The convention idea roundup is here.
A once-yearly convention is not really a yearly thing – as anyone who has run one knows from painful experience. There is planning, there is community moderation, there's getting the next hotel. For some, they can forget the convention for most of the year, but for many others, they cannot.
Of course, there are many good things about conventions that go on year round – the message boards, the chats, the planning get-togethers, and so on. These things keep the attendees and the staff primed, give them a chance to socialize, and build the "con community."
So if you want to add more to your convention for the profans and progeeks, why not take your career tracks and presentations and so forth and do them more than once a year? Go and do career events related to your convention when the convention isn't happening.
A few ideas:
- Have those at the con who speak on careers do it in other venues – club groups, networking groups, jam sessions among fellow fans, etc.
- Do teleseminars/call-in sessions or events.
- Host minicons/relaxacons with a career focus based around your con. (Not that that sounds particularly RELAX-focused, but still).
- Arrange tours of appropriate businesses at different times in the year for local fans.
There's a lot of things you can do year round. The benefits of course are:
- You help people.
- You keep promoting the convention and it's ideals.
- It's a great recruiting tool.
- You build community relations.
- People practice and develop new material and ideas.
Our careers are not things we think about once a year – and they don't have to be for the convention(s) you work on as well!
– Steven Savage